Friends,
The Oscars are nearly upon us and India awaits if it can Naatu Naatu to a victory. It’s not the only India connect in the list of Oscar nominees this year. ‘All That Breathes’ directed by Shaunak Sen is up for Best Documentary Feature and Kartiki Gonsalves’ directorial debut ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ is up for Best Documentary Short Subject. Here’s hoping!
This week’s newsletter is dedicated to some interesting stories about India’s association with the Academy Awards. And the Oscar goes to…
Things we learnt this week 🤓
Dilip K Basu traveled to India in March 1992 on a first class ticket, with something valuable in his hand luggage, accompanied by a cameraman. On his trip he spoke to someone, handed out the valuable item in his hand luggage and the cameraman took a video where we see Basu supporting the other person holding the valuable object. The man in question is Satyajit Ray, who accepted the award while on his deathbed, in a hospital in Calcutta. Basu's first-class trip provided a Ray of sunshine for the Indian film fraternity.
Which is the first Tamil song to be nominated for an Oscar? The answer surprisingly isn’t an AR Rahman number, but a song from the film Life of Pi called ‘Pi’s lullaby’. The song got the legendary singer Bombay Jayashri her only Oscar nomination for Best Song. The brief from director Ang Lee to Bombay Jayashri was that a child sleeps not because he is sleepy, but because he is feeling safe. Was the director happy with the result? Well he definitely wasn’t Ang Lee.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s short film ‘An Encounter with Faces’ was nominated for the Best Documentary Short Subject film in 1979. The cash strapped film maker approached the then Information and Broadcasting minister LK Advani to help with money as well as a passport. The minister got a passport arranged in just 2 hours without any police verification and also sanctioned $20 per diem from the Govt of India to spend in the LA. Vidhu Vinod Chopra not only had a close encounter with faces, but also a close encounter with VIPs. You can watch the film here.
From IWTK, with love 💌
Gully Boy wasn’t the first time a movie had the line - Apna Time Aayega. Learn more about where it was seen first.
How Shankar Mahadeven made the song Breathless. An absolute classic.
Only In India 🇮🇳
One cannot resist the allure of Ruby, we suppose
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